Aerial serpent toy



' Sept. 11, 1923.

1,467,726 T. G. HlTT AERIAL SERPENT TOY INVENTOR ATTORNEYS PatentedSept. 11, 1923..

warren s'raras THOMAS G. HITT, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

AERIAL SERPENT TOY.

Application filed January 7, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS G. Him, a citizen of the United States,residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of Washington, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Aerial Serpent Toys; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to toys, and particularly to a toy for use withfireworks, and fireworks displays.

The objects of the invention are to provide a simple and inexpensiveform of toy for use in fireworks aerial displays, by which an imitationserpent may be projected into the air in a burning and explodingcondition, and to appear in the air as a burning serpent, Or as asunspot in the darkness of night.

A further object is to provide a simple and inexpensive device in theform of a portable tube and supporting frame for holding and projectingthe form of serpent, which frame may be deposited on the ground or anyfioor surface and provided with suitable footings to hold the projectingtube at any angle desired with the supporting surface on floor orpavement, etc.

A further object of this invention is to provide a simple and safedevice for holding fireworks, (particularly those made in the form toresemble serpents) for the purpose of igniting the same when ready to beprojected into the air in a burning condltion, and thus to avoid injuryto the persons igniting the same. The tube being sufliciently open atits lower end to permit the igniting of the lower end of the serpent,and the sides of the tube forming a guide and passageway for directingthe course of the serpent, and also to guard the user from being burnedby discharge of fire and sparks, from the serpent while starting flight.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel features of construction, combination and arrangement of partshereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in the claims and shown inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a. holder constructed in accordance withmy invention Serial No. 527,694.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, and

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the frame.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicatesthe base of the frame preferably constructed from pliable metal and bentinto triangular form. lflach corner of the frame 1 is bent downwardly toform leg portions 2 to provide suitable rests for the frame to insure asteady position of the frame when in use. The ends of the metal whichform the base are twisted together as at 6 and one end adapted toproject upwardly at an oblique angle from the base and suitably coiledat its outer end to form loops 5. From this it will be apparent that thearm 4 having the coils 5 formed at the outer end thereof will provide asuitable support for the main containing tube 7.

In order to retain the tube in its proper position relative to the baseframe 1, one of the triangular side portions is provided with a U-shapedbend as at 3 adapted to be inserted into the lower end of the tube 7 toretain the tube in position and also to serve as a supporting base forany form of fireworks that may be fired or discharged from the tube. Thetube 7 may be adjusted to various upright positions by moving the coils5 along the length of the tube, one of the positions being illustratedin full lines in Fig. 1, and another position being illustrated indotted lines, and from this it will be apparent that by moving the eyeor coils 5 along the tube, the tube will be caused to assume variouspositions in accordance with the fireworks to be discharged therefrom.

In discharging some forms of fireworks to be projected by their burningcontents it is found diflicult to ignite them without some danger to theoperator, by reason of their uncertain line of travel, and also byreason of the fire and sparks thrown out by the burning contents as thepiece is beginning to burn or travel, and in this tube the piece isfirst supported on the bend 3 and an opportunity provided for theoperator to ignite the piece from the lower end of the tube and be safefrom fire, also safe from the flying exploding piece, as the walls ofthe tube cause the issuing fire and sparks to strike down to the groundand also to guide the line of flight of the exploding piece for acertain distance above the top of the tube.

The device is particularly useful in firing the pieces generally knownas serpents, or

such pieces as usually move zigzag and in other erratic directions whileexploding, and the device is further useful in directing the upwardflight of pieces which are provided with a variety of explosivecontents, such as a separate bag of: brilliant burning explosive placedin the head of the piece to become ignited when the piece has reachedthe upward limit of flight, and which when exploding, resemble abrilliant sunburst in the dark, similar to the pieces and may be usedfor discharging the pieces provided with such separate bags of explosiveas described in my patents of the United States, numbered 1,253,596 and1,253,597, and generally known as Flashcrackas.

I claim:

1. A device of the class described including a base frame, an armextending up wardly from said frame at an oblique angle, a loop at theouter end of the arm, a tube arranged within said loop having its lowerend resting upon the base, a supporting element extending upwardly fromthe base and projecting into said tube for supporting the tube in anupright position.

2-. A device of the class described including a rectangular base memberformed of a single piece of material, one end of said materialprojecting upwardly above the base at an oblique angle forming asupporting arm, a loop at the outer end of said arm, a tube supportedwithin said loop and a loop formed within one of the side portions ofsaid base and projecting into the lower end of said tube to support thetube in an upright position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

THOMAS G. HITT.

